Was just talking to the 3d printing workshop and when they did not mention sketchup as a software to use, I asked why and they said it causes a lot of problems. I have not 3d printed anything let, but if I do it woud be with sketchup as thats what I'm more comfortable with.

But is Sketchup problematic for 3d printers? Another person said there is a lot of issues with faces.

Basically anyone saying Sketchup is no good for 3d printing simply hasn't learnt to use Sketchup effectively.

Some other software can be less likely to cause problems because they are solid modellers whereas sketchup is a surface modeller. Solid modellers make everything out of solid lumps, but sketchup needs you to understand how to make a manifold solid.

The guy was expecting me to use Solid works, but as im an Interior Designer its more natural that I come from the Sketchup or 3D Max direction.

I cant say if I am a good modeler though. But I do expect to be creating more curvey free form models when I do to 3D printing, which i dont have any experience in doing actually. Bit scared of leaving my world of boxes behind.

Box nailed it - I totally agree that anyone who learns how to use Sketchup "properly" with good modeling practices will be just fine. Keep in mind that plugins are virtually a necessity for making great models for 3D printing.

Every CAD program has limitations, Sketchup included. Solid modeling programs can be easier to make a solid model, often providing a warning if the modeling operation will make a non-manifold model. The level of complexity certainly takes some of the "fun" out of the modeling that Sketchup is known for.

I'm a big fan of using the right tool for the job. Sketchup is fantastic for making architectural-type models - no big surprise. Solidworks is great for mechanical engineering models. Blender is good for artistic purposes, and Zbrush for character modeling.

Can any of the programs be used for making other models than what they're best known for? Sure! Half the battle is knowing how to use the program, and great users can perform magic in their tool of choice. However, you're not going to win any character-modeling awards using Solidworks.

Personally I still use Sketchup for some projects, but I've mostly outgrown it for Fusion 360. Parametric modeling is a major time saver when iterating a product, and it's much easier to make complex organic objects.

So now @syburn - the question is, what are you modeling for 3D printing? If the models are similar to what you already use Sketchup for, then you'll be just fine.

syburn wrote:So its more organic, curvy, with patterns on the surface.

You can use Sketchup with plugins like Curviloft and Subdivide and Smooth for a while, but you will run into limitations pretty quickly, especially with patterns on curved surfaces.

You may want to look into using Rhino then. I believe our resident skate park designer Jeff graduated to Rhino for those kind of shapes. Many architects use Rhino as well. It's more accurate and much easier to use for organic shapes. It is still a surface modeler (vs a solid modeler), so you'll want to keep good modeling practices for 3D printing in mind. It'll be much easier for texture mapping your shapes as well.

Fusion360 could work as well, but I haven't seen many architectural projects made with it.

falk wrote:I've used SU to design sewing machine parts and toys, and they all 3-d printed just fine. You'll need one of the plugins that write STL files, and then you're good to go.

One trick: if it's a small part and there's fine detail, design it at 1000x scale, then shrink it down before you generate the STL file. SU doesn't like fine details.

STL export has been a native thing in SketchUp for some time now. No need for a plugin for that.

Modeling at 1000x is good but no need to scale the model down before exporting the STL. Model with units set to meters but tell the slicer that the units are millimeters. The STL file is unitless, after all.

Here's something I did in SketchUp this evening. It's 3D printable. The image is from the slicer.